When I found out Batman had been retired for 8 years - kind of hinted to me that the narrative wasn't where I had hoped it'd be going.

I also felt that as the film went on - Gotham felt empty. No war, no backlash - it just felt like the city was lifeless. Also the lack of Batman in the film, didn't feel right.

Those are a couple of red flags for me.

Lack of Batman in this movie.

For the last Christopher Nolan Batman film. There should been a hell lot more Batman in this movie. Retired for 8 years is lame. He could have said he was tried from fighting Poison Ivy, Riddler, Killer Croc and other villains even if Christopher Nolan would have never put them in his movies.
Batman sitting around doing nothing for 8 years? Really?
Too much John Blake. Too little Talia al Ghul development.
Talia al Ghul has been trained in many forms of martial arts. Christopher Nolan could have had Talia al Ghul fight Batman and Catwoman in hand to hand combat at the end of the move at the same time.